“Even in Poverty, We’re Still Dancing”: Helpful Coping Strategies in Response to Anti-Black Racism and Its Impact on Well-Being

Black resilience has been long documented in Black history; yet too few studies discuss the positive narratives of Black experiences. There is too little discussion of positive and protective factors that are present in the Black community to cope with anti-Black racism. In this qualitative research, we aimed to explore and describe effective coping strategies used in response to anti-Black racism to promote both individual and collective well-being in the Black community. Using a strengths-based approach, the objectives of the study were to 1) explore helpful coping strategies used by Black Canadians ( N = 22) in response to anti-Black racism; and 2) describe their impact on personal and collective well-being through interviews. Results illustrated that emotional collective coping , active individual coping and africultural coping were helpful for participants in dealing with anti-Black racism. These coping strategies had positive impacts on participants’ personal well-being (e.g., self-efficacy) and collective well-being (e.g., social connection). This research describes the internal strength and collective power that exists in the Black community, especially in the Canadian context. Information from this study reaffirms the presence of Black resilience amidst the face of race-based stressors and orients both practitioners and researchers to understand the protective factors that enhance the lives of Black people.